Chapter 1 – Arachnid Dungeon

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T/N: This is going to be the replacement for Overpowering my OP Wife in Bed which has finished on Patreon. So yeah, it’s going to be a raunchy erotic story with a fair share of fanservice. Will be stocking up for a while on this one, so the initial release will be slower. Four volumes are out, the fifth is slated to come out end of December. Have fun reading it~

(1)

“Mihono, are you done?”

“……”

“Hey, how long do you plan to stand around like that?”

“……”

“…Come on, answer me. I’ve been telling you to give it a rest and go ahead, y’know?”

“……”

“Mihono?”

Despite me calling out to her many times over for a while now, Matsuzaka Mihono had been ignoring me──Akimitsu Tsukasa. She’s my classmate, and before that, my childhood-friend, yet she didn’t even try to look in my direction, let alone respond to my voice.

If you were to ask a hundred people about Mihono’s appearance, all of them would agree she’s a beautiful girl. Though I don’t know about its veracity, I’ve heard she was even scouted for a movie at some point. She’s got a bright and bubbly personality, which has blessed her with many friends, regardless of gender. On top of her great figure, she’s had outstanding reflexes ever since we’ve been small, leading to her often having been asked to help out in all sorts of clubs.

Basically, she’s the complete opposite of me, who is so slow on the uptake that you could call me a dolt, no matter what I try my hands on.

Mihono was completely focused on the entrance of the dungeon we were slated to explore next, her lips pursed into a thin line and her face an incarnation of seriousness. All I could see, however, was her profile with the long eyelashes standing out and her silky hair which was reaching down all the way to her back.

Inside a dim forest, overgrown with weeds and eerily, oddly bent trees, lurked a natural cave, concealed in the crevice of a moss-covered rock. Our objective was to head in there, defeat the boss, and secure a certain reward. Yet, Mihono, with whom I was supposed to form a party, didn’t even try to hide her dissatisfaction over being here with me.

Currently we were wearing equipment as you’d usually encounter it in games or fantasy novels. But, the quality of Mihono’s gear was clearly several levels above mine. While she was wearing magic gear anyone could identify as high-grade at a glance, I was clad in worn-out leather armor and had the scabbard of a cheap sword affixed to my waist belt.

I deliberately sighed loudly so Mihono would hear me, “Y’know, if you stay silent while looking so obviously unhappy, it’s gonna make me annoyed as well. Oh, or is it just me who cannot read the mood? Could it actually be that it’d be better for me to head back?”

I intentionally tried to piss her off, using an insidious tone to rile her up. On top of that, I added some ridicule to my voice for a good measure. Of course you could say this sort of attitude perfectly suited a gloomy forest like this one, but originally I shouldn’t be the kind of guy who would take such an attitude with others.

However, everything had changed. My relationship with Mihono, and even my character. Everything had changed from the time when we still had been in our previous world.

“It’s not like I asked you to take me with you or anything like that. ──The one begging for my assistance to rescue Shihono was you, right? If you wanna do everything by yourself, be my guest. But, please be clear about it.”

“……”

“So, what’s it going to be?”

“…Stuff it.”

Mihono spoke up at last, but her voice was filled with nothing but annoyance.

“I’m concentrating here. So please, be quiet,” she said, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

Upon closer look, you could see her eyelashes tremble slightly as they extended from her double-edged eyelids. Her breathing was somewhat rough. Sweat was running down her nape and her fists, covered by fingerless gloves, were clenched awfully tightly. Rather than describing her as unhappy, it seemed to be more accurate to call it as her being seized by extreme nervousness.

I see…I guess that makes sense.

I came to terms with her behavior and shifted my attention to the darkness of the cave which Mihono had been staring at since earlier.

I mean, she’s gotta be scared.

Mihono was different from me. Compared to a pathetic loser like me, she was superior in many ways. Her courage made her unrelated to what others call fear──is what I always believed. But, there’s no way that could be true. Right now and here, the assumptions ingrained into me since childhood, or rather, the illusions I harbored about my childhood-friend, who always used to be far more superior than me, were falling apart faster than I could look. And ironically, I felt like I could understand Mihono much better than before, now that those illusions had gone up in smoke.

Atrocious monsters are prowling the inside of that cave in swarms. Once you go inside, you have no guarantee that you’ll ever come out alive. …Figures, I suppose. I get it, Mihono. It’s scary, isn’t it? Even for you.

At this moment she was frantically trying to subdue her urge to run away while crying. But, that wasn’t much of a surprise either. In the end, she too is just another normal girl. She’s obviously afraid of getting hurt or losing the one life she has. If you think about it for a moment, that’s a very normal reaction to have.

…I fully understand. You’re afraid, aren’t you?

At the same time of comprehending her, I also felt like sympathizing with her.

We aren’t inside a game right now. If you die, it’s over. The absence of a revival or reset was the same in our previous world, too. But, here Mihono has no reliable friends at her side. Her having to depend on the help of a “guy who’d run even if it’s cowardly” is truly miserable, I believe. I pity her from the bottom of my heart.

“…Why are you smiling!?”

“──Hmm?”

When I looked her way after being addressed by her for the first time in a while, Mihono was glaring at me. The strong gleam dwelling in her eyes was just like it used to be in the past. Nothing about it had changed since back then. But, that too held no meaning beyond being a mere bluff under the current circumstances.

“Really? Was I smiling?”

“Yes. Your gross mug was distorted into a grin.”

“That was just your imagination, no?”

“…There’s something I’d like to confirm once more before we go in. You’ll keep your promise, won’t you?”

“Promise? …What might you be talking about?”

“Don’t play stupid with me! Akimitsu, you told me I could get the medicine necessary to save Shihono if I defeat the boss in there. That wasn’t a lie, right?”

“──Haha!”

This time I laughed unabashed and openly. This caused Mihono’s stare to become even grimmer.

“How about you stop being so obstinate? How often does one have to tell you the same thing until you’re satisfied? Or are you unable to understand things unless people repeat them for you over and over again? Were you always so stupid?”

“────gh!”

The flames of fury fiercely burned inside Mihono’s eyes. That alone would have likely been enough to shut the old me up for good. But, currently my heart was so calm that it shocked even me.

“I told you 『you might obtain it』. You might obtain it 『possibly』. Not once did I mention absolutely or doubtlessly. …So, why are you glaring at me? It’s the truth, so it cannot be helped, right? Didn’t you ask me for my assistance while knowing all that?”

As I spoke, I suddenly recalled that enemy characters appearing in anime and games would talk just like I was right now. The type of small fry character who would draw all the aggro on himself while nastily harassing the protagonist and the heroine. Of course, this kind of enemy wouldn’t live long in the first place. It was the common trope for them to leave the story after quickly dying in a wretched manner.

But, regardless of my attitude, all I told Mihono just now was the plain truth. I didn’t tell a single lie and I didn’t exaggerate either. Inside this cave she might be able to find an item capable of curing the illness afflicting her twin sister, Matsuzaka Shihono. Going by an optimistic estimate, the possibility might be around 50-50. But even then, this method should be a lot more realistic than trying to cure Shihono through other means.

Sure, this world possesses healing magic which will fix a broken body like it’s a joke, and panaceas which work against all sorts of diseases and injuries. But, all of them are outside the reach of Mihono’s and my abilities, not to mention being unattainable in our current situation.

After continuing to glare at me for several minutes, Mihono turned her face away. Even if she confronts me with her irrational rage, it won’t change anything about her situation. In reality, she should understand as much as well. ──But, that and her being upset with me seem to be two different issues for her.

While looking extremely annoyed, she spat out, “…Make sure to not get in my way. Got it?”

“Yeah, of course. You too don’t hinder me by making some silly mistake, okay?”

When I said something “unnecessary” again, Mihono gritted her teeth in anger. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. And once she opened her eyes again, she had apparently pulled herself together. Her tightly clenched fists weren’t trembling anymore. After confirming as much, I lit the torch which I had drenched in oil beforehand.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

This spelled the beginning of Mihono’s and my first dungeon conquest in this world.

§

Thick roots were winding while hanging down from the ceiling. The soil enclosing the cave in all directions was dark and teeming with humidity. This whole place looked just like a giant ant nest. The sole source of light within the darkness around us was the torch in my hand.

Mihono mumbled, “Sure is dark in here… Besides, it’s somehow damp and humid…”

“We’re underground, so it’s only natural, wouldn’t you say? Rather than that, watch your step properly with all the roots growing throughout the whole place.”

“…You’re awfully used to this, aren’t you?”

“Thanks to you.”

“The hell? …What would I have to do with it!?”

“Who knows?”

As usual, the atmosphere between Mihono and me could only be called strained. We had grown apart starting with junior high school, but before coming to this world, we were at least capable of holding a normal conversation whenever we met. But, just as it was impossible to turn back time, our relationship and my twisted personality would never revert to their previous state. I had somehow managed to stay alive up until today after barely escaping that castle alive, but in return I had paid with the loss of various things. As Mihono hadn’t shared that experience, she couldn’t comprehend my thoughts and feelings.

With the atmosphere remaining so tense that it could snap any moment, we advanced through the pitch-black cave for a while. But then, Mihono suddenly stopped and took a fighting stance.

“…They’re here!” she scowled at the darkness with a grim expression.

She wasn’t holding any weapons. Behind her, I moved away a bit. Noticing it, Mihono cast a fleeting glance at me.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“…Nothing.”

“Then put some fighting spirit into it and do your best. If you need my help…”

“I won’t,” she shot me down right away.

A short moment later, we could hear something crawling towards us. And that sound was quickly getting closer to us. And then, the unknown presence vigorously leaped at Mihono as soon as it got close to the boundary of the zone of light created by my torch.

“──Hah!”

As that targeted Mihono’s windpipe, the side of its face was met with her truly awe-inspiring high kick. In the next instant, I heard the sound of something hard cracking, accompanied by something slamming against the cave’s wall. Using her long leg, Mihono had exhibited a flexible kick that would earn her the praise of any Muay Thai boxer. But, as soon as she lowered her leg, we spotted a new enemy, causing her to grimace, her face oozing with disgust.

“Uhh… What the heck are these things…? They’re so disgusting and gross.”

“Arachnids. It’s a monster you can often encounter in this area.”

The ugly monster, seemingly a combination of spider and alien, had died while scattering green liquid after meeting the wall. A few seconds later, the corpse separated from the wall with a sticky smacking sound and dropped to the ground.

“gh…!” Mihono gasped, her body stiffening up.

If I hadn’t been present, she might even have allowed herself to release a small yelp. Even though she was so bad with insects that she’d raise a storm from just a small dragonfly landing on her shoulder, she achieved the grand feat of controlling herself this time.

“You can do it, if you want, huh?”

“…Are you trying to be sarcastic? Did you believe I’d cry over a monster like this? Hmph, sorry to disappoint. I’m doing all of this to rescue my little sister, so this much──”

Miyono pretended to be calm while brushing up her hair at the back of her head. She apparently loathed the idea of showing weakness in front of me. But she couldn’t conceal her agitation. On top of being awfully talkative, she was speaking much faster than usual—clear evidence of her panicking right now.

Incidentally──

As I expected, she has a martial arts-based blessinggift, huh?

The physical ability she exhibited just now wouldn’t be possible without it. All people living in this world were given a special gift by God. ──I don’t know whether it’s really something given by a god, but the people who summoned us said so. And the gifts bestowed on people summoned from 「another world」 were often special in quality and variety. For this reason, they sought the power of heroes from other worlds to fight against the 「enemy」. ──All of this was explained by that princess in the summoning room.

I see. It means her equipment is also catered towards hand-to-hand combat.

Gloves to protect her fists and light armor to avoid hindering her limbs’ movement. Above all, she didn’t possess even a single knife. I used the previous battle for Mihono to show me that her gift granted her martial arts power to fight monsters with her bare hands while strengthening her physical abilities. If her combat methods revolved around hand-to-hand fighting, it’s probably more advantageous in such a narrow space than a weapon with a long reach.

Still, hand-to-hand fighting fits Mihono perfectly, I must admit. She’s liked weaponless martial arts since she was small. Although she usually didn’t play games, she’d always beat me in fighting games. She also frequented a karate dojo and kick-boxing gym.

“…What? Don’t stare at others like this, okay?”

Being admonished by her, I averted my face and focused on what was lying ahead of us.

“Eh?”

Drawn by my look, Mihono also focused on the area in front of us. Apparently, she too had noticed the strange presences crawling around deep within the darkness.

“What’s that sound? Somehow, it’s awfully noisy…”

“Ah, it’s nothing to write home about, really.”

In the few moments we exchanged those words, the presences were closing in on us, rapidly multiplying. I took this as an opportunity to tell Mihono about the true identity of the noise, which was rushing towards us with a jarring rustling.

“The other arachnids in the nest have gathered to devour you.”

“Eh…?”

“Anyway, there are a lot of those arachnids. Individually, they might be small fries, but a nest is inhabited by several hundred of them at the very least,” I informed her about the ecology of the monsters in a relaxed tone.

All the while, Mihono’s eyes were darting back and forth between the arachnid she’d killed just earlier and the interior of the cave.

“……”

“Besides, look,” I jerked my chin, causing Mihono to look at her feet.

The cohesive, green body fluid of the dead monster was now clinging to her high-grade equipment, centered around her foot protectors. That fluid was releasing a special pheromone of sorts, serving as a beacon to warn the other arachnids of an enemy who killed one of their own.

Furthermore, this type of insect monster wouldn’t falter if one or two individuals in a colony were killed. Even if they took on opponents much more formidable than themselves, they’d leap at them one after the other, biting them with their sharp fangs to take them down by covering the enemy with numbers. Living beings swarmed by arachnids wouldn’t be able to do anything except groan in agony and pain as they were devoured. Eventually, their bodies would fall apart like sand, not even leaving intact bones behind. The whole spectacle was grotesque beyond description.

Personally, I had already watched it happen twice, so I explained the whole process in detail to Mihono. By doing so, I once again reminded her that fighting and losing against monsters in this world meant nothing but death. And that the way of dying here was, without exception, painful, gruesome, and full of despair.

Looking at her face from beside her, I asked Mihono, “Hey, Mihono, are you really okay not running away? If it’s now, you might still make it out, if you escape at full speed, y’know? People devoured by these monsters won’t leave a single drop of blood or strand of hair behind, let alone flesh and bones. All of it ends up in their bellies. Are you really fine with things ending like that?”

I revealed a faint smile at Mihono’s trembling shoulders.

“Yeah, I know even without you answering. Of course, you won’t run away or anything like that. ──Right?”

“gh…”

“I mean, you’re different from a coward like me, no?”

I confronted Mihono with the line she threw at me the other day. And then I drew back to not get in the way of her battle.

“Well then, do your utmost and fight so that you won’t be killed, alright? …Oh, right. The monsters coming at you from now on won’t be like the scout you killed just now. They’ll be proper soldiers. Be careful since you might not be able to take them down in one hit,” I cautioned her as if it was somebody else’s problem altogether, but as long as Mihono didn’t ask for my help, I wouldn’t do a single thing in the upcoming battle.

My sole role was to guide her. Such was our contract.

Once I took some distance not to get dragged into the fighting, Mihono gritted her teeth, bracing herself.

“…There’s gotta be a limit to making fun of others, don’t you think?” she said while firmly planting her feet down, taking a stance to intercept incoming attacks, and roaring into the darkness, “Go ahead and try me, if you think you can!”

At the same time, the swarm of enraged presences flooded in. And then──

§

“Haa, haa, haa, haa…”

“That one just now was the last, huh? Good work, Mihono.”

“Ugh…”

With her hands pressed against her knees and her breathing ragged, Mihono wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Although it’d be an exaggeration to say she had fought several hundred, Mihono had still taken down more than a hundred arachnids by herself. Being able to pull off something like this while fighting a swarm of arachnids for the first time as someone who shouldn’t be used to actual combat was marvelous. Her being capable of it was likely owed to her possessing superb senses.

But…

I examined Mihono’s state.

‘The fight took around thirty minutes, I’d say.

Mihono had won this battle and survived. However, she couldn’t avoid exhausting much of her stamina in the process. The surrounding walls and ground were in a miserable state due to all the bug corpses. Mihono herself was drenched with greasy body fluids, and her pretty, long hair had become syrupy. Her sense of smell was likely paralyzed thanks to the stench coming out of the crushed monster’s intestines. And Mihono was so thoroughly exhausted that she didn’t even have the leeway to worry about any of that.

“Gnh, haa, haa, haa, haa…”

The attacks had stopped for the time being, but the next wave would likely come soon. And eventually Mihono’s stamina would hit its limit. Once that happened, we’d be swallowed by the swarm and become 「nonexistent」 in this world. We had no time to dawdle around. We needed to reach the deepest part of the cave and defeat the boss before this fate came to pass.

Mihono’s voice trailed after me, who had walked ahead.

“W-Wait.”

“……”

“Wait, don’t leave me behind. Please, Akimitsu.”

The instant Mihono called my name, I stopped. It was almost as if our past positions had now reversed. I, who used to be a crybaby despite being a guy, always chased after Mihono and 「that guy」. ──But, I had already changed. The Akimitsu Tsukasa she knew was long gone. Just like her, I no longer considered her my childhood friend. ──No, even if I still considered her to be like that, it was no more than a cumbersome emotion that would get in the way of surviving in this world. For this reason, I deliberately answered with a cold voice while looking down at her.

“Then get moving.”

———- End of Part 2 ———-

(2)

“…Hey, Akimitsu, is that the boss here?” Mihono asked, lowering her voice to the absolute minimum.

Hidden in the shadows of the cave’s rocks, we strained our eyes, trying to make out the contours of the monster, vaguely visible deep in the darkness. What was lording over there was a monster manifold bigger and much more brutal than the small arachnids we had encountered on the way here. The height of its body easily outscaled Mihono’s or mine.

Further into the cave, beyond that monstrosity, lay a dead end. However, its walls, ground, and even the ceiling were clustered with myriads of eggs. They had revolting color schemes, combining yellow and green in various shades, and were covered in some sort of stringy white mucus. There was one thing I knew for sure: I wanted to unsee those tight arrays of monster eggs.

“Ah, right. …Aren’t you glad? With this, we’ve met the first condition.”

“What are you talking about?”

“If this nest had no queen, it’d have instantly been game over for Shihono.”

I was fully aware that this was anything but a game, yet I still used this phrasing.

“The fluid you can extract from the queen’s body is an ingredient for the medicine desired by you. If you bring it back, you can have them contort the cure for you later. …Though, all of it depends on you defeating that monster.”

“……”

“If you got cold feet, we can pull back, you know?”

A light provocation, rather than a gentle consolation, worked better with her personality, as it would prevent her from backing out. And just as I expected, Mihono quickly flared up.

“There’s no way I could do that after coming all the way here, is there?”

“Then, attagirl! I’ll cheer you on from here. …What’s with that face? Did you expect me to help you during the boss fight or something like that? Hahahaha, what a riot! Sorry to say, but no way. Why would I have to go through this for the sake of you and Shihono?”

I casually placed my hand on Mihono’s shoulder. She appeared to be annoyed by my overly familiar attitude, but at the same time, she apparently felt it’d be too much of a hassle to brush my hand off. She limited her protest to scowling at me with eyes full of hatred.

“…You’re the worst,” spat Mihono, stood up, and started to advance.

The arachnid queen looked like she was asleep while protecting the eggs, but she immediately noticed Mihono’s approach and got up. Even under normal circumstances, this monster was huge. But as soon as it unfolded its eight legs, it became much bigger. Glaring at Mihono with her compound eyes, the monster began to threaten her foe by chattering with her developed jaw.

“gh…,” Mihono faltered for an instant, but didn’t back down.

Being able to keep going while raising her face to that thing was proof of Mihono’s courage. However, there was but a paper-thin difference between courage and foolhardiness. Even without brooding over it, one could tell. This queen was on a completely different level from the small fries so far. It was true that Mihono wasn’t weak by any measure, considering her lack of experience in combat against monsters. But even then, it’d be questionable whether she could barely squeeze out a win if she fought in perfect condition. However, right now, she was pretty drained from all the fights inside the cave.

As far as I could tell from the battles up until here, the martial artist Mihono didn’t have any skills in her repertoire that would allow her to launch a surprise attack from a distance. The area around the queen had no obstacles, with the sides and the area above her head being relatively large and open. Considering the overall situation, the only tactical option available to Mihono was a frontal exchange of blows. Yet, Mihono kept drawing closer to her opponent without any hesitation.

Still, if someone asked me whether my heart was moved by Mihono bravely heading into battle, I would clearly deny it. Even though she was clearly willing to risk her life to save her little sister, she didn’t lend a single ear to my pleas back then. Thanks to that, I had absolutely no interest in what she was going through, nor did I want to know. On the contrary, when we reunited, she had already considered me to be dead. I had no obligation to help such a heartless 「childhood friend」──at least not for free. But even if you excluded our circumstances, I had learned the hard way that this world was one where softies, who lent a helping hand in situations like this one, were the first to die.

I had made a contract with her to lead her up to this point, and Mihono had paid the price for it. However, she ended up completely broke because of that. If I were going to assist her in this battle, she’d need to pay with something else. ──And if she died without doing so, it’d be her choice to make.

Standing in front of the monster, Mihono braced herself and clenched her fists once again. And then boldly declared to the monster, “I’m sorry to do this to you, but it’s for the sake of my little sister. Here I come!”

No sooner than finishing the last syllable, Mihono kicked off the ground and slipped into the bosom of her enemy; thanks to her explosive acceleration, one couldn’t follow with their eyes. The first strike by her fist was definitely fast and heavy. If her opponent had been one of the small fries, that punch would likely have opened up a hole in the monster’s body. Assessing that she’d be at a disadvantage in a drawn-out battle, Mihono had tried to settle it instantly in her own way.

But her attack had been ruthlessly blocked by the sharp, blade-like foreleg of the queen. The hard clang when the metallic part of Mihono’s glove and the monster’s foreleg came into contact reverberated all the way to my position. Mihono immediately dodged the sweeping attack by another leg, which had been launched as a counterattack.

“Ughhh! ──Yooouuu!”

While evading the snapping jaw and the horizontal leg slashes that cut through the air, Mihono tried to answer with punches and kicks of her own. However, the monster dodged those with movements so nimble that you wouldn’t expect them to come from such a huge frame. Freely using its eight legs, it kept attacking Mihono from angles unthinkable for a human. The instant she was squarely hit by one of those attacks, Mihono’s life would be forfeit. Once she became unable to move after having a part of her limbs severed by those sharp blades or getting slammed against the wall or ground, the arachnid would turn her into such a messy pulp that no one would be able to identify her afterwards. Despite having struggled to fight her way to this point, she’d meaninglessly died in this world, unable even to save her twin sister.

“Haah, haah, haah──urk.”

Mihono gritted her teeth, resuming the desperate rally with the monster. But her movements had obviously become more sluggish. The occasions when the enemy attacks grazed her grew in number. With how things were going, it would just be a matter of time.

This is what happens when one sticks to their pointless obstinacy.

I removed the scabbard of my sword from my belt while casting a sidelong glance to make sure that Mihono and the monster were entirely focused on their little fight. And then I poured mana into its top and started to carve a 「Seal」 on the ground.

“Kyaa!?”

Before long, Mihono’s scream bellowed throughout the darkness. When I took a look, her torso had been cleanly hit by a side sweep of the arachnid’s foreleg. What you could probably describe as a silver lining here was that it hadn’t been the sharp blade part of the leg, but rather the blunt back of it. Even so, Mihono’s body was sent flying, drawing an arc in the air, as if having been hit by a truck.

“──Ugnnhh!?”

And then, after bouncing on the ground a few times, Mihono was slammed against the cave wall. Usually, this would be more than enough to kill a person, but her being barely alive could likely be attributed to the high quality of her equipment. Or maybe it was an effect of her martial arts skills.

“Ga…ha!”

A thick cloud of dust had been whirled up around the wall which Mihono had just visited. Pebbles and fragments raining down from the ceiling hit her back and the ground. She tried to get back up right away. However, her body didn’t seem inclined to listen to her.

“Argh…”

Her face twisted in pain, Mihono curled up on the spot as if kneeling. ──The shadow of the queen loomed over her head, its foreleg raised high into the air.

“──Gnnphh!?”

Another direct hit. This time, Miohono was struck face-first against the hard ground. Seeing how the arachnid had used the blunt part of its blade-leg once more, I suppose even monsters possess the feeling of wanting to get revenge on an enemy who butchered their kin.

“g…a…”

Mihono’s body had stopped moving altogether. The monsters carefully observed her while deliberately clicking its mandibles. At this rate, Mihono is going to die, and her corpse will become a valuable source of nutrition for the monster eggs growing further down the cave. Nevertheless, I won’t get involved in this.

“Guuh…,” Mihono groaned quietly, her face still kissing the ground while her fingers twitched. “T-Tsu…,” she called out to me, her voice about to fade.

Somehow managing to lift her head, she finally, at long last, extended a hand in my direction.

“What, you want me to save you this late in the game? Hahaha, you’re a truly selfish piece of trash.”

I made my way towards Mihono and the monster while holding up the torch in my right hand after drawing the sword with my left. The arachnid queen apparently abandoned her plan to finish off Mihono, instead turning her attention in my direction. I, however, ignored the monster and focused solely on Mihono.

“…I don’t mind saving you, but what will you give me in return? You don’t possess anything, so is there any reward you pay me with?”

“gh…”

“If you still desire me to help you, spell it out.”

“…Eh?”

Mihono pondered the meaning behind my words for some time. Well, I call it some time, but in reality, it might have been just a few moments at most. But, despite that, Mihono reached a conclusion after thinking things over in her own way.

“P-Please…save… I beg you…I don’t want to die in a place like this…”

I don’t know what sort of expression I was showing at that moment.

“Don’t forget those words later, Mihono.”

I drew closer to the arachnid queen. The monster judged me to be a hostile element and postponed dealing with Mihono. It completely turned its body toward me, beginning to threaten me. Yet, I only stood still without doing anything in particular. Mihono watched this while sprawled on the ground, anxiety clouding her eyes.

Meanwhile, the arachnid came towards me while slowly increasing its speed. In contrast, I ambled, luring my opponent towards the center of the seal I had carved on the ground. Thanks to Mihono having worked as a perfect decoy by putting her body on the line, I had managed to prepare everything without a hitch.

“──Nice, that’s where I want you to be.”

As soon as the enemy arrived at the target area, I thrust out my right hand and chanted the incantation for explosion.

“Die.”

In the next instant, the 【Explosion】 rune right underneath the monster burst with a thunderous roar.

§

“──…cough, cough.”

“You okay, Mihono?” I asked after moving up next to her while the cloud of dust and dirt still hadn’t fully settled.

“Y-Yeah…,” she answered, her voice sounding unexpectedly energetic.

“What about the monster?”

“It’s dead.”

Having said that, Mihono probably can’t see anything due to the jet-black darkness. Although it was great that I had killed the enemy with a Seal Art skill──the power given to me when I came to this world, it even blew out the torch’s fire. Yet, even Mihono could apparently sense the presence of something massive dying within the darkness. After she sighed in relief, she suddenly recalled something.

“Ah! What about the ingredient for Shihono’s medicine?”

“That comes next.”

I took out a stone from my belt pouch. No sooner than I had poured my mana into it, the 【Light】 rune engraved on it reacted, starting to release a pale light. Relying on that illumination, I retrieved our objective from the queen’s corpse.

“Here you go.”

The cerebrospinal fluid I collected in a container should be the ingredient necessary for her sister’s medicine. Just as I had told her before the fight, it was an item we wouldn’t have been able to obtain without a queen being present in the nest, but it looks like Mihono had won that bet.

“That’s wonderful…”

“Let’s get out of here. Once the queen dies, the nest’s survivors should prioritize their own survival, but since I used quite a large amount of mana, I don’t want to be attacked right now.”

“O-Okay.”

“Can you stand?”

“…Thanks.”

Taking my hand, Mihono got up. The tone of her voice had remarkably softened compared to earlier.

“Hey, that just now was your magic?”

“Well, something like that.”

“Even when I got hit by its attacks, I felt like some sort of thin barrier was protecting me. Was that possibly part of your magic as well?”

“…Aren’t you imagining things? Stop giving me such nonsense and hurry up instead,” I urged Mihono curtly.

Since I had carved 【Light】 runes at various places while coming here, it wasn’t all that different to escape the place. During all that time, Mihono silently followed me from behind.

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